Lead Your Business with Clearly Defined Principles, with John Rossman.

Episode 101:

John Rossman is Managing Director at Alvarez and Marsal, a keynote speaker, and an author. John is an expert at crafting and assisting clients to implement innovative and digital business models and capabilities including Internet of Things, marketplaces, and API driven platform business models. He is a sought after speaker on creating a culture of operational excellence and innovation. John has worked with clients across various industries, including retail, insurance, education, forest products, industrial products, and transportation.

John’s notable assignments include The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, Nordstrom. and several of the world’s leading retail and insurance organizations. Prior to A&M, John was an executive at Amazon.com where he launched the third party selling platform and ran the merchant services business.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

Why you need to get really clear on what your future looks like

John’s favorite Amazon leadership principles

Why you need to be proactive and take action

The importance of prioritizing getting to the right answer over getting along

Structuring interviews so you find the employees that are actually willing to grow and improve

Amazon’s “think big” and why it’s all about experimentation

John’s best hiring practices like getting independent opinions before making a hire

Strategies for breaking something down to its simplest form

How to get your employees to take ownership in your business

How to communicate principles in a way that everyone understands they’re the standard

For almost 30 years, Drew McLellan has been in the advertising industry. He started his career at Y&R, worked in boutique-sized agencies and then started his own (which he still owns and run) agency in 1995. Additionally, Drew owns and leads Agency Management Institute, which advises hundred of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow their agency and its profitability through agency owner peer groups, consulting, coaching, workshops and more.